IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Manhunt On for 3 Armed Suspects After Cop Fatally Shot

The unidentified officer was investigating three suspicious suspects Tuesday morning in suburban Illinois when he began a foot pursuit and was shot.
Image: Suspects Sought After Suburban Illinois Police Officer Shot And Killed
A police officer searches an area for suspects involved in shooting an officer September 1, 2015 in Fox Lake, Illinois. A manhunt for three suspects is underway after an officer from Fox Lake Police was shot and killed this morning. Scott Olson / Getty Images

A growing manhunt is underway in northern Illinois for three armed suspects who fled after a police officer was fatally shot Tuesday morning.

The unnamed Fox Lake police officer had radioed to dispatch before 8 a.m. local time that he was chasing three male suspects engaged in suspicious activity, Lake County Sheriff’s spokesman Chris Covelli told reporters.

Read more coverage at NBC Chicago

When backup arrived, officers found the injured cop lying in a marshy area and stripped of his weapon, Covelli said. He died at the scene, reported NBC Chicago.

The suspects are described as two white men and one black man; further descriptions weren't available,the station said.

U.S. marshals, ATF agents and canine units have joined SWAT teams — wearing black and white camouflage — deployed in and around the wooded areas of Fox Lake, a suburban town almost 60 miles north of Chicago.

Area schools were put on lock down and said on social media they would not be dismissing students until police lift the shelter-in-place order.